Dual Past
by DigitalEclipse
Summary: Kyuuen Hitori is the new girl to Karakura. She has a past she doesn't like to talk about, but when she joins up with Ichigo and his buddies to save Rukia, she finds herself doubting what she thought was the real her. Set in the Soul Society arc. IchigoOC.
1. Teaser

Karakura Town wasn't so large. Compared to places such as Tokyo it was in fact, puny. So when it happens that two people meet each other as strangers, it's a bit rare.

Hitori walked into the High School with a smirk on her face. She had just moved to Karakura last week all on her own. She had last lived in Nagasaki, but she moved to Karakura after some events at her last High School. After the events she had liquidized all of her belongings except those that she had an attachment to or knew she would use it later so she kept things like her notebook, her backpack, a sketch pad, clothes, and her wallet with all of its contents. She was also an emancipated minor, meaning that she was able to live by herself without parental supervision.

Hitori stretched her legs out as she walked and slung her backpack back onto her other shoulder as she walked into the classroom her papers had directed her to. She immediately regretted it as all the eyes in the classroom seemed to zoom into her. A cold bead of sweat rolled down the back of her head as she turned her attention to the teacher who was looking at her oddly. Probably due to her chosen hairstyle.

Hitori's hair was styled in a very peculiar way. She had a mohawk on the top of her head, only about 3 inches high, along the sides of her head were cornrow braids that all met in the middle of the back of her head, right behind the mohawk, in a ponytail that cascaded down her back to her upper shoulders. Not only was the style odd, but her coloring was like that of a peacock. It had a dark brown base with green, purple and blue in blending highlights through all of her hair.

She couldn't stop the roll of her eyes as she walked forward and handed a slip of paper to the teacher. As the teacher read over the paper she nodded. Hitori put her attention to messing with the hem of her uniform's skirt while she waited for a response.

The teacher looked up at her with what looked to be a forced smile, "Welcome to my class, Kyuuen Hitori. You can call me Ochi-sensei." She then turned her attention to the class, "Kids, this is our new student from Nagasaki. She just moved here so be nice." She then turned back to Hitori, "Why don't you introduce yourself?"

Hitori looked at her new classmates and raised a pierced eyebrow. "Hello, my name is Kyuuen Hitori. I enjoy reading, sketching, and watching the stars..." She paused and tried to think of something else to say, "I'm also highly proficient in medical arts, mathematics, and physical education." She finished with a small bow and the teacher pointed to a seat near to the windowed wall of the classroom.

As Hitori walked over to her seat she could feel the gazes of most, if not all the students. She sat down and put her messenger bag down near her feet. The teacher glanced at the class, watching them all whisper and point at Hitori before sighing.

"Since I know I'm not going to get anything through to you guys today, why don't we take a day off?" At this all the students cheered except Hitori, "You can all do what you want, but at PE, you better all attend." With that she whipped out a brand new manga to read and put her feet up on her desk.

Hitori was confused beyond anything. How could a teacher call themselves a teacher if they let their students slack off? Still confused about this, she didn't notice the approaching students until it was too late.

"Kyuuen-san!" One girl called out from directly in front of her. Startled, Hitori tensed up before looking up at the face of a girl that was very close to her own. The girl had short reddish hair that was trimmed short. Her eyes were framed by large slim framed glasses that suited her well.

"Kyuuen-san, what lovely hair you have!" She spoke again, reaching forward to touch Hitori's mohawk. Hitori frowned and was about to slap her hand away when another person caught it. Hitori looked up to find another girl standing right next to her. She was tall and had purple hair and an air of authority around her.

"Chizuru-perv, you shouldn't make any moves on the new girl yet. You haven't even met her." The tough girl looked at Hitori, "My name is Arisawa Tatsuki. This gay perv," she said and pointed with her thumb at the now pouting Chizuru, "is Honsho Chizuru. The one over on his own is Uryu Ishida," she pointed over to a lone kid with black hair and square framed glasses, "That's Kunieda Ryo," She pointed to a tall, long legged, black haired girl, "Next to her is Ogawa Michiru." There was a short rather cute girl next to the tall one.

"And my name's Inoue Orihime! This is Yasutora Chad," she gestured at a tall, tan, black-wavy haired guy who seemed like a giant. "And this is Kuchiki Rukia!" She presented a short black haired girl with wide purple eyes who was smiling kindly.

Then there was a silence as they all looked over at an orange haired kid. He seemed reluctant to even be in their little crowd. Orihime nudged him and he sighed.

"Eh. My name's Kurosaki Ichigo." He said bluntly.

"And I am the mighty Asano Keigo!" One boy who had fair hair cried out, striking a pose with a fist in the air. He then put it over his chest and bowed to Hitori, "But you, my lovely, may call me Keigo-kun!"

"And I'm Kojima Mizuiro!" A rather cute looking boy said from Keigo's side.

Hitori sweat dropped at all of them. She glanced at all of them before pointing at Keigo, "You're a suck up." She said with a straight face.

"WHAAAA?" Keigo screamed and jumped back from her. He then proceeded to curl up into a ball and cry. Mizuiro went to go and comfort him.

The girls immediately started warming up to the quiet little Hitori, while Ichigo laughed outright at Keigo.

"So, Kyuuen-san, what's it like in Nagasaki?" Orihime asked.

Hitori was glad for a normal question. "It was nice, the weather was perfect and I lived right on the coast line. I always went swimming and there was always something amusing. But it doesn't beat this one arcade I went to when I lived in Kyoto." Hitori bit her lip. She hadn't meant to mention that.

"You lived in Kyoto too?" Chizuru exclaimed. "Where else have you lived?"

"Well..." Hitori trailed off. Eventually she named off six different cities, all of which were nowhere close to each other.

"Wow. You sure move around a bunch, Kyuuen-san!" Orihime said with a shocked expression.

"Do your parents move around a lot because of their jobs?" Ichigo asked.

Hitori fell silent. She shifted her gaze to the window, away from all their curious glances, "My parents...aren't exactly around."

Noticing the sensitive subject they dropped it and switched to another one. Hitori never really got into the conversations, instead she chose to just listen to them chat to one another. Eventually lunch time rolled around and they all split into their different cliques.

Hitori was used to not belonging to one so she grabbed her store bought bento and began to walk up to the roof. As she neared the roof she could hear voices talking to each other.


	2. Awkward Lunches

**Sorry this took so long to get out...I've been super busy with college and a job and an internship...Soooo yeah. Hope you all enjoy!**

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Up on the roof was Ichigo with Rukia. Both were sitting peacefully as Ichigo showed her how to open a juice box. Hitori grinned at the sight. They both seemed like such good friends. As she thought this, Hitori felt a small bit of pain stab at her heart. Due to her constant moving she hardly ever made really good friends. The last time that had happened was six years ago.

With a sigh she made a move to head to the door and go back down to find somewhere else when she heard her name called out by Rukia. Startled, Hitori turned back with a shocked expression.

Rukia sat smiling at her and waving her over. With a confused look Hitori glanced around to find no one else there so she walked over slowly, shyly.

"Hello, Kyuuen-san!" Rukia greeted her politely.

Hitori gave her what she hoped was a smile, but it probably game out as a demented grimace.

"What's with that look? Not used to people?" Ichigo flat out asked making Hitori blush furiously and stop her attempt.

Rukia jabbed him really hard in the ribs with her small elbow, making him fall over to the side and clutch his other side in pain, "Ichigo! Be polite!" She scolded, suddenly sounding much older than before.

Hitori noticed, but didn't say anything as she stood there awkwardly holding her lunch and shuffling her feet.

"Ah. Take a seat already. You're making me nervous." Ichigo said, having scooted too far for Rukia to reach. Hitori felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of her head as Rukia just took her juice box and threw it with amazing precision and hit Ichigo square in the face.

"What did I just tell you?" she yelled at him.

Hitori laughed, earning a curious look from both Rukia and Ichigo. Hitori found the scene so amusing she couldn't help but laugh.

Ichigo put on a smirk, "'bout time you started acting normal." He went back to eating his lunch.

Hitori stifled her laughter and sat down in front of the two who were leaning against the railing. She opened the boxed meal of hers and began to munch on the rice before moving on to the sushi roll.

They sat and chatted quite a bit. Mostly about Hitori, but she learned a few things about them.

Rukia loved to draw cartoon animals that were rather cute in Hitori's opinion. Ichigo earned another smack when he commented that he couldn't tell the difference between any of them. Rukia also enjoyed reading horror mangas and was new to the area as well.

Ichigo's family owned a small clinic in his district which his father ran as his two sisters helped out. His dad was insane, according to Ichigo, and he insisted that Hitori never meet them, due to their insanity. Hitori merely laughed at the notion.

Lunch was soon over and Hitori, Ichigo, and Rukia walked down from the roof and back to class. The rest of the day Hitori was surrounded by students wondering about her and trying to ask as many questions as they could.

Eventually school was out and Hitori made it to the gate before she heard her name called again. Hitori turned and looked over her shoulder.

Orihime and Tatsuki stood there waving. "Kyuuen-san, why don't you join us at the arcade?" Orihime asked.

Hitori reached a hand up and scratched the back of her neck. She really needed to find a proper place to sleep and she didn't really have the money to just go and spend on video games.

"Uh, thank you for the offer, Inoue-san, but I have to get home quickly to unpack my things." Hitori lied.

Orihime just kept her smile, "Alright then, Kyuuen-san. See you tomorrow!" With that Orihime and Tatsuki walked off in the opposite direction of Hitori.

Hitori sighed, knowing she wasn't going to find a place to sleep tonight. She'd have to deal with sleeping on a park bench or something of the like.

She walked down the street and saw a small store. It was a small and quaint convenience store. She walked in and grinned at the food item she saw in front of her. There on the shelf was a package of multicolored Dango. She grinned like a little fox and grabbed a pack before heading to the counter to pay. As she walked up to the elder man she noticed a bathroom sign to the side.

As she set her Dango on the counter she gave the man a kind smile, "I'd like to get these, but may use your bathroom first?"

The man smiled back to her and nodded, handing her a key on a chain.

"Thank you!" Hitori said and bounced over to the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and sighed. She hated having to fake being cheery. She reached into her messenger bag and pulled out her toothbrush and paste. She brushed her teeth hurriedly before storing them and using the facilities for what they were supposed to be.

When she had finished she walked up to the elder man and handed him back the key with that same fake smile plastered onto her face. She bought the Dango and walked outside. With a sigh she continued her search for a park.

As she walked she got many strange looks from her hair, but she was used to them by now. She had done her hair like this ever since she was fourteen and had sketched it out on paper. Not to mention, people never picked on her in school because of it.

As it started getting dark Hitori frowned. She had found a park, but now she was missing a bench. She walked around the park aimlessly until she came across a small kid's playground. With a sigh she climbed up onto the playhouse thing and lay on the hard floor. As she looked up at the beautiful stars that were just starting to shine through, she pulled out the package of Dango and stuck one in her mouth. She ate silently and when she finished it she put the stick back into the container and moved her bag to use as a pillow.

"I wonder how long I'll be able to stay here..." Hitori mumbled to herself, watching the night skies as she slowly fell into an uncomfortable, but familiar sleep.

The next day at lunch was awkward. Hitori was on her way up to the roof again when she heard voices already there.

"How do they always beat me here..." She pondered to herself before she opened the door slowly, not wanting to disturb them.

"...Keigo." Ichigo's voice sounded, "Tell some funny jokes to hype up the atmosphere."

Hitori could barely make out what the joke that Keigo was saying since he was mumbling and speaking extremely fast. She opened the door to the roof slowly and examined the group before her. Keigo was streaming his joke out while Ichigo and Ishida appeared to be whispering to each other. Then to the side was Mizuiro who was observing both parties at the same time.

"Well...they're livelier than at the last school." Hitori mumbled to herself. She didn't realize that Mizuiro could hear her from his spot all the way at the other end of the roof. He smiled at her kindly and waved her over.

"Hello Kyuuen-san!" he called out. Ichigo and Ishida ended their conversation and looked over at her. Ichigo still had that same frown on his face.

Hitori wondered if it was going to stick like that someday. She looked over at Mizuiro and gave him a small smile and a nod. She then began to walk over to her own corner of the roof.

"Wha-Kyuuen-san! Come back!" Keigo yelled, noticing her presence. Hitori looked over her shoulder at him, "Come eat lunch with us! We could use a female energy with us!"

Hitori could practically see little hearts flying around him and she sweat dropped. With a small sigh she shrugged and walked over to their little group. As she sat down between Ishida and Mizuiro she noticed for the first time that both of Ishida's forearms were wrapped in bandages. She frowned at the sight but dismissed it.

"So Kyuuen-san, how do you like Karakura High so far?" Mizuiro asked kindly.

As Hitori was opening the plastic wrapping of her lunch she looked at Mizuiro, "Great. A lot better than my last school. They were such snobs." She said and pulled off the container's top.

Inside was a sushi roll, a ball of rice, and some beef teriyaki on a thing of lettuce. It was nicely decorated and was cheap for the serving size. She took up the wooden chopsticks that it came with and began to slowly eat the food.

Ichigo glanced at the box of food, "Still moving in?"

Hitori cast a curious and confused glance at him.

His frown increased, "Since you bought your lunch. Are you still moving in?"

All the boys noticed as her eyes rose on her forehead. She blinked her cerulean eyes at them and swallowed the food in her mouth.

"I'm not finished unpacking if that's what you mean...and I always buy my food." She didn't notice their confused glances at each other and continued, "My cooking isn't exactly the best thing ever."

Keigo looked genuinely concerned, "Why doesn't your mother cook?"

Ichigo, unknown to Keigo, was glaring at him. Apparently when Keigo was sulking he missed the fact that her parents were a sensitive subject.

At this Hitori frowned and looked down at her food. She often wondered what good homemade food tasted like. "My parents...are both dead." She said and left it at that.

Ichigo, Mizuiro, and even Ishida sent glares in Keigo's direction while he paled and began to look sick.

Hitori noticed the change in atmosphere and she looked up and frowned at their hostility to Keigo, "Hey. Lighten up on the guy. How was he supposed to know? Besides I'm over it." The air was still tense so she sighed, "So what is there to do around Karakura? For fun I mean."

As the boys began to list off what they found fun to do Hitori found she was genuinely happy for the first time in years.


End file.
